Since moving, my number one request for the kitchen was: a spice drawer. My type-A, organization-obsessed heart couldn’t wait to get started on this project, but then we ran into a problem.
We realized our drawers were super short. Like so short we had to remove the back of our Ziploc drawer organizer that fit great in our old kitchen and cut it down to fit.
Since typical spice drawer organizer designs with risers were too tall for our super short drawers, we had to get creative to make a low-profile solution for our spice rack drawer. Luckily for you, that means a super easy DIY spice drawer organizer that can be made without any power tools!
Yes, we used our miter saw to cut the dowels, but you could definitely get away with using a miter box and hacksaw instead.
The secret sauce that makes this spice drawer look so good is definitely the jars and labels we used. The organizer itself is subtle and designed to let the spices really shine!
Recommended Tools:
- Miter saw (but you could also use a handsaw for this)
- Clamps
What You’ll Need:
- ½” square dowels (we used 4 – 3ft for our 24.75” wide drawer)
- ⅜” square dowels (we used 3)
- Super glue
- 4oz spice jars
How to Make a Spice Drawer Organizer
STEP 1: MEASURE YOUR DRAWER + MAKE YOUR CUTS
Measure the inside of your drawer box. You want the rack to fit snugly so that it doesn’t move around.
Once you have the inside measurement, you can make the following cuts:
Cut (3) ½” dowels to be 1” smaller than your drawer width.
Cut (3) ⅜” dowels to be 1” smaller than your drawer width
Cut (2) ½” dowels to 14” for the sides.
*Cuts are for 3 rows of spices.
You might want to consider setting up a jig for accurate repeat cuts or taping your dowels together and cutting them all at once. It’s very important that your cuts are all the same. Even errors as small as 1/16” can impact the assembly of this project.
Before cutting, be sure to check out this post on how to safely cut small pieces of wood on the miter saw.
STEP 2: MARK WHERE YOUR DOWELS WILL GO
On both the 14” dowels that you cut for the sides, mark the following spots:
- 4” from the bottom, 4.75”, 8.75”, 9.5”, 13.5”
STEP 3: ASSEMBLE WITH SUPER GLUE
This entire spice rack is assembled with super glue, so it’s quick to make, but that also means you have to work quickly. Personally, I like to use super glue gel (Gorilla glue has a great one) because it’s thicker and doesn’t run.
Start by attaching your dowels to one of the sides. The bottom of the dowels should be flush with these marks:
- ½” dowels placed at 4”, 8.75”, and 13.5” (aka flush with top of sides)
- ⅜” dowels placed flush with the bottom of the side, 4.75” and 9.5”
As you’re attaching everything, the ½” dowels will be flush with both edges of the sides. The ⅜” dowels should be flush with one edge, the other edge will be slightly indented.
Once the first side is attached and holding, add glue to the other side of the dowels and place the second side.
You might want to use some clamps to help hold things in place while the glue dries.
STEP 4: TRANSFER SPICES TO JARS
We looked forever to find jars that met all of our criteria:
- Clear
- Round
- Wood top
- Shaker top
These jars actually came with labels, but being a total font snob, I bought these labels to use instead.
STEP 5: INSERT SPICE RACK IN DRAWER
Now that your spice rack is dry and your spices are transferred, place your spice rack in the drawer. The side that all of the dowels are flush with should face down towards your drawer bottom.
The bottom on the spice jars will rest up again the ⅜” dowels and the upper part of the spice jar will rest on top of the ½” dowels.
There you have it! Now you know how to make your very own spice rack drawer organizer!
